Commercial food preparation is, in effect, a manufacturing operation in which a team of skilled workers operates together to produce meals from component ingredients. Such preparation involves several major activity areas centered on appliances such as a stove, an oven, a refrigerator, a sink, and one or more preparation tables where food ingredients may be chopped or peeled or mixed or set for cooling or staging.
Unlike conventional manufacturing operations, much of the work in kitchens is performed manually using equipment and methods that differ only in slight degrees from those used hundreds of years ago. The work preparing food can be difficult, especially in commercial quantities, which may involve moving of large and bulky food containers that may be hot, in an environment where spills and moisture are inevitable. Mixing and cutting large quantities of food can involve repetitive manual activities that may promote repetitive motion injuries.
The variety and range of tasks undertaken in a commercial kitchen nevertheless require great flexibility in the equipment. Space is normally at a premium and specialized equipment that may be appropriate in a manufacturing environment may be commercially impractical in a commercial kitchen operating in a highly competitive environment.